AST and the new Expert dungeons

[Risvertasashi]

Anyone else having these issues? Do you guys have any suggestions, tips or anything else to help?

60 AST here that took it into dungeons when Law was the best gear but I was mostly still in Greens (but this was before the Lightspeed buff).

Basically it's like others said... AST requires a high efficiency party. The faster DPS kills stuff, the easier it is on your MP. AST definitely has the least endurance so it was important that everyone play as competently as possible -- good DPS, good CD use from tanks, etc.

All that said, with gear it gets vastly easier. If you're in i190+... you shouldn't be having problems unless the party is *really* terrible. Well... just have to deal with those ones sometimes.

[RichardButte]

But there are as many bad astros as other dps/tank/healers in the game.

I believe that's statistically impossible...

That's the first source of problem the Astrologian job know actually. Look how many players don't manage to correctly use a healing class as easy as the whm. Do you expect them to be able to carry a crappy party as an Astro ?

There's a colossal difference between the sustained healing output of AST and the other two healers. I played both AST and SCH at 60 with the same ilevel for a while: SCH can blow its mana on DPSing all it wants and it barely matters because they get 20% of it back every minute anyway, and with Bane, SCH DPS is actually pretty damn good.

AST, on the other hand, must conserve mana in case any emergency situations arise, and due to the weaker mana regen, the sustained healing just isn't anywhere near as potent.

I've tested this at length and these were my findings. Both classes are fine if the party is excellent, but SCH just has far more leeway with mana and emergency buttons in case something goes wrong.

Really, there's 0 reason to ever play AST instead of SCH or WHM right now.

[Xikaz]

People claiming ilvl is the problem are right, but they're also missing the point.

These are ilvl 145 dungeons, you shouldn't be struggling when you're decently above that.

Yes it will get much easier once you outgear these dungeons by a significant amount, but currently the job is lacking and it will hopefully be addressed in the upcoming buffs.

[Mclyde]

I believe that's statistically impossible...





There's a colossal difference between the sustained healing output of AST and the other two healers. I played both AST and SCH at 60 with the same ilevel for a while: SCH can blow its mana on DPSing all it wants and it barely matters because they get 20% of it back every minute anyway, and with Bane, SCH DPS is actually pretty damn good.

AST, on the other hand, must conserve mana in case any emergency situations arise, and due to the weaker mana regen, the sustained healing just isn't anywhere near as potent.

I never said the contrary. I said that a lot of players actually don't play very well their sch or whm, so you can't expect them to handle a more difficult class as Astromancien. It's not that usual to see a sch or whm who uses Cleric stance in dungeon.
But some players manage to do well in dungeon with the min ilvl required as Astrologian. You have to take on board their results, not the ones of players in difficulties, cause they don't understand the potential of this job.

Astro has less healing power than his homologues. However... it's not a problem for everyone.
Just sayin' we have to be carefull regarding the forum's complaints.

[RichardButte]

It's not that usual to see a sch or whm who uses Cleric stance in dungeon.

If you mean while healing, then yes, that's awful.

But when a healer is in a good party and is sitting at mostly full mana, they should absolutely be jumping into CS and adding DPS to the fight.

However... it's not a problem for everyone.
Just sayin' we have to be carefull regarding the forum's complaints.

True, complaints will always be louder than they need to be.

But we've seen enough level-headed, analytical feedback from players running Savage who've played as both SCH and AST a while now and we've all come to the same conclusion: you generally CAN do it as an AST, but either of the other healers can do it safer, faster, and typically doing more damage on the side. You CAN, but why would you when it only puts more pressure on the other healer and the rest of your group?

I'm not worried about it, though. They fixed up warriors a while back to put them on par with PLD and I'm sure they'll do the same here.

Yoshi-P wanted to make sure that AST didn't have some crazy exploit that could be used to faceroll Savage on the first week, and I don't blame him in the least. I figure ASTs were going to wind up sitting Savage 1-4 out anyway (at least for world firsts). Let's see what Tues' patch brings us...

[PetiteMalFleur]

Op, this is a gear issue. I can't see what other gear you are using but I noticed you have a 145 weapon and I imagine your other gear is equally behind. Any healer would struggle with this. The aoe healing in these dungeons is incredibly light. Even as fresh 60 ast I never had mana issues before the buffs and was able to spam gravity through big pulls. Get the law weapon and update the rest of your gear.

[Seoulstar]

Op, this is a gear issue. I can't see what other gear you are using but I noticed you have a 145 weapon and I imagine your other gear is equally behind. Any healer would struggle with this. The aoe healing in these dungeons is incredibly light. Even as fresh 60 ast I never had mana issues before the buffs and was able to spam gravity through big pulls. Get the law weapon and update the rest of your gear.

It also has to do with your party. I've had runs where I've healed easily. Then runs where people didn't dodge anything and Im starting to panic as my mana is getting dangerously low.

[Hayward]

I've played both SCH and WHM in the past, healing being my main job type in this game so when AST was announced, I was really excited. I've build it up and am ilvl 150 but I'm discovering I'm having issues keeping up in the new expert dungeons. They seem to be AoE heavy and AST AoE heals suck so I'm playing the class more single based like SCH than WHM. The refresh is also terrible. If I don't have a bard with me, you can forget completing the dungeon all together. Without Mage's Ballad, I'm sunk.

Anyone else having these issues? Do you guys have any suggestions, tips or anything else to help?

Thanks so much!

I agree that i150 gear won't yield as much healing power as you might be used to. This is especially true if you're dealing with some hotshot tank who doesn't consider the healer's gear before acting like he's Superman. Law & Alexander gear should address this side of the issue.

As far as other issues, I've grown comfortable with Nocturnal Sect. In my mind, it's better to keep the tank from taking too much damage in the first place than to constantly react. Noct Field helps me to do so due to the speed in which I can put up a shield (Something I couldn't do nearly as quickly as a SCH).

[CyrilLucifer]

Op, this is a gear issue. I can't see what other gear you are using but I noticed you have a 145 weapon and I imagine your other gear is equally behind. Any healer would struggle with this. The aoe healing in these dungeons is incredibly light. Even as fresh 60 ast I never had mana issues before the buffs and was able to spam gravity through big pulls. Get the law weapon and update the rest of your gear.

The dungeons are iLevel 145. It shouldn't matter that the OP has a 145 weapon, he's already "geared" for the dungeon by having one and being at that iLevel. Everyone's so used to running these dungeons at 170-190 that they seem to forget that they're extremely overgeared.

[Eudyptes]

It's not that usual to see a sch or whm who uses Cleric stance in dungeon.

Hang on, are you implying using CS in a dungeon is bad? Cause I spend more time in CS than out of it on my SCH, and I promise you it's not a bad thing.